Just Enough To Get By
by TopHatsNPyros
Summary: Basically just Ichigo and the gang in college. More might be unfolded later on.  Note: More may or may not be added. I would greatly appreciate it if you comment. If I get some good ones, I'll definitely write more for this!
1. Just Desserts

"Rukia! You have to try this new dessert I made! It's absolutely delicious!" Orihime called, running over to the short, dark-haired girl.

Rukia looked up from her sketch pad, tucking it under her arm so it wasn't visible, "Um... Sure... What is it?"

Orihime's smile grew "Well... You see... I'm not entirely sure... But it tastes soooo yummy!" She said, handing the other girl a piece of what looked like a burnt brownie that had been chewed up three different times, spit out, mashed together, and then baked to a crunchy perfection.

Rukia hesitantly took the fiendish-looking dessert and took a small bite, instantly wanting to hurl.

"Aw! Come on, Rukia! You can't taste it with that small of a bite!" Orihime complained

Rukia gave her a small smile and held her lunch down "I'm sorry, here" she said, forcing a larger bite out of the horrid thing.

"Well?" Orihime prodded once Rukia had forcefully swallowed.

'It's good." She lied, trying very hard to hide the fact that it tasted worse than her brother, Byakuya's, cooking, and that was pretty hard to come even remotely close to.

"Oh! I'm so happy! I'm going to go share it with the others!" she exclaimed before bounding off.

Rukia closed her eyes and sighed, leaning against the tree she was sitting in front of. She really didn't understand that girl. How could she majour in culinairy arts, be labled the best baker in the whole school, and still manage to make something as horrible as that... That... That thing?

"Rukia!" A voice cut off her train of thought.

She opened her eyes and looked up at the tall carrot-top that was looming above her "Oh, hello Ichigo."

"Whatcha doing?" he asked, grabbing the sketch pad from her.

Rukia quickly snatched it back, "It's nothing!" she said, shoving it back into her bag. "Oh, and if Orihime asks you to try her new dessert, don't."

"You changed the subject" Ichigo growled.

"I'm just giving you a warning!" Rukia argued.

"I see you two are as friendly as ever" Uryu said, walking over to them.

Ichigo drew in a deep breath and sighed "It can't be that bad, she's the best baker in the school."

"Fine then, you wanna try it?" Rukia asked slyly, producing the remainder of her piece from her bag.

Ichigo took it with a horrified look on his face "What... What the hell happened to that thing?"

Uryu smirked and pushed his glasses up higher on the bridge of his nose "I wouldn't eat that if I were you..."

"Would you two just shut up already? Like I said, it can't be that bad!" Ichigo said, popping the remainder of Rukia's piece into his mouth... And then instantly spitting it out, "Rukia! What the hell did you give me?"

"I told you not to eat it!" Rukia yelled back at him.

"Then why the hell did you give it to me?"

"Hey! It's not my fault YOU ate it!"

"Well YOU gave it to me!"

Rukia hmphed and turned away from him, now standing. "Uryu, could you please tell Ichigo that he cannot change the fact that he still ate it and I am done speaking to him."

"Wha? Wait! I refuse to be part of this!"Uryu said, backing away.

"Hey! Rukia! I'm right here! I can hear you! Hey! Are you listening to me? Rukia!" he hollared as she started walking away, "I'm not through with you! COme back here!" he yelled, dashing after her.

Uryu laughed "I wonder how long it'll take him before he realises that isn't going to work."

Rukia kept walking and Ichigo quickly caught up with her, "Hey! Look, I'm sorry!" he said, still rather loud and holding the same yelling effect.

Rukia continued to ignore him.

Ichigo drew in another breath in attempt to relax "I'm sorry for blowing up on you like that." he said, looking at the ground.

Rukia gave a small nod, "Tell her you're allergic to nuts or something."

"What?"

"Orihime. She's headed this way. Tell her you have a nut allergy."

Sure enough, Orihime was headed their way, the horrible dessert in hand, "Hey! Ichigo! You have to try the new dessert I made!"

Ichigo flinched "I... Uh... Have a nut allergy..."

Orihime giggled "Silly Ichigo. There are no nuts!"

Ichigo paled "There aren't? Are you sure?"

"Positive." Orihime said, still giggling uncontrollably.

"Ichigo would love to try it, but he's on a diet. I'm sorry, Orihime, but we have to get going." Rukia said, polietly, a small smile playing on her lips as she led the taller boy away.

"Okay! Bye you two! Have fun!" Orihime called after them. 


	2. Renji

**Sorry this one's a little short... But with good reason! I've been working very hard on Chapter 3 and it's quite long (at least I think so). Well, enjoy! Don't forget to comment! If you like the story, please say so! Your responses are what'll keep me going with this series. So tell your friends and your friends' friends and your friends' friends' friends and, well, you get the picture...**

**A special thank you to Miku Alli! If you hadn't commented, this wouldn't exist :D!**

"So... Um... Rukia? Where are we going?" Ichigo asked the short, black-haired girl who was leading him out of the on-campus park.

"We don't have any classes, so I thought we could do something." Rukia replied, still holding her grip on his arm.

"Oh really? And when did you ask me about this?" Ichigo asked, a little annoyed by her self-made decision.

"Hey! You owe me!" Rukia replied, equally annoyed.

"Fine, where do you want to go?" Ichigo asked calmly, much to Rukia's surprise.

She just stared at him, utterly speechless in shock from how well he was taking the whole thing.

He looked at her "You alright?"

Rukia blinked a few times "Ya, I'm fine... Um... Well... To answer your question... I actually haven't really thought about it..." she admitted.

"Ok, then how about we go..."

"Ichigo! Rukia!" A voice cut Ichigo off mid-sentence.

Both turned to see who it was.

"Hey! Renji!" Ichigo greeted the red-head.

Renji stopped by them and put one of his arms around Rukia, pulling her slightly closer to him. "What do you say we go out tonight?" he asked her.

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched a little.

Rukia removed Renji's arm from her shoulder "Sorry Renji, but I'm spending the day with Ichigo, maybe another time."

"Okay..." Renji said, rather dejected, "Well, just letting you two know that there's a party at Rangiku's place tonight. Everyone's talking about it..."

"Rangiku Matsumoto? The professor?" Rukia asked, cutting him off.

"Actually, she just works for the university, she's not a professor." Renji replied, informing them about the big-busted secretary before continuing, "Come on, it'll be fun."

Rukia looked at Ichigo "You wanna go?"

Ichigo sighed "I'm not one for parties, but you can go with Renji." he said as he turned and walked away from the two.

**Oooo... What's going to happen? I know it isn't very dramatic, but still. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Party!

**Hey! It's me again! Ya, I know, you're probably getting really sick of me... But oh well. Anyway. This is parte three to this wonderful thing I sometimes call a story... Whatever, now onto parte 3! Don't forget to write me a review or something! I don't care if it's a good or bad review, just please give me some feedback! Thanks! And Enjoy!**

**Another thank you to Miku Alli!**

**Note: This chapter was 'inspired' by a film I watched in health class about alcohol and our current unit in health, which is, yes, you've guessed it, alcohol. Please don't hate me...**

"Come on Rukia, Ichigo'll be fine." Renji reassured her for the millionth time as they entered Rangiku's house.

"Come on in!" The orange chestnut-haired Rangiku greeted them enthusiastically. You could tell she had already started raiding the liquor. "Aw! Renji! I didn't know you were dating Rukia! You two are so cute together!"

"We're not dating." Rukia said, somewhat pissed off by the comment.

"Oh well, it was worth a shot..." she said, a little bit of sadness tinted her voice. "Here, have a drink!" she said, recovering quickly and shoving some alcoholic beverage of unknown substance into Rukia's hand.

Rukia held it out for Renji to take, but he gently pushed her hands back, "Loosed up a little, Rukia, have some fun."

Rukia looked at the glass "I really shouldn't... Then again I shouldn't be here either..."

Renji opened a beer of his own "Ichigo's probably off doing something else. Don't worry about it." he said before taking a swing and then continuing, "Look, Rukia, you don't belong to him. Be your own person. And, for the record, he told you to come."

Rukia sighed and took a sip out of her drink. Surprisingly, it tasted really good. She took another sip, and another, and before she knew it, she was on her second glass.

"Rukia, slow down. You're going to get sick." Renji warned with a small chuckle, he was on his fourth bottle of beer himself.

Rukia ignored him and kept sipping at her drink.

"Hey! Renji! Long time no see!" Izuru said, walking over to them with Momo.

"Hey Izuru, so you finally manned up and asked out Momo I see."

Izuru's face turned pink and he looked at the floor, "Uh... So... I... Uh... Well..."

Momo giggled, "So you're with Rukia?" she asked, sparing her partner of his embarassment by the red-head's comment.

"No, I'm not with Renji." Rukia cut in, her face also a little pink.

Izuru put his hand on Renji's shoulder "And I'm the one who's 'not man enough'?" he whispered mockingly in his ear.

Renji grumbled something inaudible and pushed the blonde away before taking another drink.

Izuru took it from him, "Man, where did you get this? It's 7%! How many did you drink?"

Renji snatched it back "Relax. It's only my third or fourth..."

"Third or fourth? Renji!" Izuru looked at him in horror, "You do realise that you have to take Rukia home, right?"

"Yeah." Renji replied before taking another long drink, draining the bottle of its contents.

Izuru sighed "I honestly have no idea how you drink that stuff... It tastes like..."

"That's easy, I'm not a pussy. Beer's a man's drink." Renji cut him off, popping open another bottle and draining it quickly.

Izuru stopped him before he could drink another one, "That's enough for you."

Renji glared at him before picking up some jello shots and eating a few. Then, after getting another look from Izuru, he handed them off to Rukia who, thinking they were just plain old jello, ate the whole cup of them and then two more cups.

She was about to start on her fourth cup when Momo noticed, "Um... Rukia?"

Rukia looked up at her, implying that Momo held her attention.

"Um... You do know what those are... Don't you?" she asked, taking the cup from her.

Rukia swallowed "Yeah... They're jello."

Momo shook her head, "No, Rukia, they're jello shots."

Rukia gave her a wide-eyed stare "Jello shots? Meaning, they're alcoholic?"

Momo nodded

"They make things like that?" Rukia asked in alarm.

Momo nodded again

Rukia gulped "So all in all... I just had five drinks"


	4. Blackout

**Ok, so it turns out that it wasn't lost AT ALL! I was just being really dumb and didn't look in the folder... Anyway, I thank you, Miku Alli for your comments! Remember everyone, please, Please, PLEASE comment! Even if it's negative and you totally despised what you just read! I really want to hear what you have to say :) So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!**

Rukia stood at the tree in the park. Her and Ichigo's usual meeting place was right where she sat, directly under the old oak which just happened to be the tallest tree in the park. Both Rukia's head and stomach hurt like crazy, and the poor girl had been throwing up all over the place that morning.

"Rukia!" Ichigo called as he strode towards her.

Rukia lifted her head a little, "Oh... Hello Ichigo..."

Ichigo looked into her dull, lifeless eyes, "Rukia? Are you okay? What happened last night?"

Rukia ignored the question.

This pissed Ichigo off, "Damnit Rukia! What the hell happened?" he demanded

Rukia put her hands to her throbbing head "Stop yelling Ichigo! You're making it worse..."

Ichigo sat down next to her. "Fine, but would you please tell me what happened?" he asked, stressing the word 'please' like he usually does.

Rukia shook her head slightly.

"And why the hell not?" He asked, getting upset and yelling all over again.

"Because I don't remember, okay?" Rukia yelled back at him, instantly regretting it the second the throbbing in her head intensified.

Ichigo lightly placed his hand on her forehead.

Rukia closed her eyes, the coolness of his hand felt good against her burning forehead.

"Let's go. I'm taking you to my place so we can get you fixed up." he said, helping her up.

The second she stood up, Rukia ran to the nearest garbage can and threw up.

Ichigo stood by her after she had finished puking her guts out, still leaning over the can on her arms to support herself.

"Wow. You must've been really plastered last night, or you wouldn't be in this mess."

Rukia nodded "I think... I remember being there with Renji, Izuru, and Momo... Renji had given me a drink and I had another following that one... I also recall something about jello..." Rukia's stomach lurched at the sound of everything she had consumed the night before, "After that, I don't remember anything. I woke up this morning in my dorm feeling like crap."

Ichigo took her arm "Let's go. I don't care what you have to say about it, you're coming to my house."

Rukia half-heartedly let him tow her towards his house where he sat her down at the kitchen table and gave her some black coffee and toast.

"You said you were there with Renji." Ichigo said it more like a statement than a question as he rummaged through the medicine cabinet.

Rukia nodded as she grugingly took a sip of her coffee.

Ichigo checked a container's lable and handed her a pill "Take this"

Rukia swallowed the horrible-tasting coffee "What is it?"

"It'll make you feel better. Just take it, Rukia"

Rukia's large indigo eyes met his brown ones "Fine" she said, looking away and taking the pill.

She coughed a few times after forcing it down with some water "It's not working" she muttered, again sipping at her coffee.

"Damnit Rukia!"

Rukia put one of her hands to her head "Ichigo!"

He instantly shut up, remembering her headache... And that's when Ichigo's father burst onto the scene. "Helloooooooo Ichigo!"

Ichigo spun around "Dad! Shut up!" he yelled at the energetic adult.

"Ow" Rukia said, putting her mug down and pressing her hands to her head once more.

"Rukia!" Ichigo's father started running over to her, but was quickly stopped by Ichigo.

"She isn't feeling too well." he said, trying to supress how pissed off he was.

"oh... MY POOR LITTLE RUKIA!"

Ichigo released his hold on his father, grabbed Rukia by the arm and then proceeded to tow her up to his room.

He closed the door and sat her down on the bed "How do you feel?"

"Like shit" Rukia replied, laying down.

"Then you're not up to seeing amovie tonight?"

Rukia buried her face in the pillow "No"

"Reason I'm asking is because Orihime asked... She, Chad, and Uryu are going."

"Shut up Ichigo!"

Ichigo let a small smile tug at the corners of his mouth as he sat down next to her "You know, Rukia... You really are something else"

**Just letting you guys know, I have started writing numero cinq (that's French for number five) it is in my folder and I'm working on it while sitting in Chemistry (shhh... that's a secret!) it will be up by next week THE LATEST! I have the day off tomorrow and it may even be up then! Thanks for reading!**


End file.
